Prince Harry is in the United Kingdom this week for a five-day visit from July 7 to July 11, and Meghan is not with him, nor are their children Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, who remain in California.
The reason is a dispute over two things that have been in conflict since the Sussexes stepped back from royal duties in 2020: police protection and palace accommodation.
Harry had hoped to bring the family for the visit.
The problem was that Meghan and the children were not being offered taxpayer-funded police protection during the UK trip, a point Harry's team described as a years-long unresolved security issue pending a review by RAVEC's Risk Management Board that has still not taken place.
Without that protection, Meghan and the children were not comfortable making the journey.
The accommodation dispute added another layer. Buckingham Palace told the BBC that Harry initially declined King Charles's offer of a royal residence, then tried to accept it, but by that point it was too late to arrange the necessary staffing and hospitality.
Harry's representative told Page Six a different version: that Harry had formally accepted the offer after working out alternative security arrangements, and that the palace then withdrew it at the last moment.
"Having formally accepted the accommodation offer, it has now been withdrawn at the last moment," the spokesperson said. "It is therefore unclear why... it has now been withdrawn."
Sources cited by Rob Shuter's Substack described Meghan as done, "no coming back from this," though a separate source attributed the confusion to Harry repeatedly changing his plans.
A final decision on whether Meghan and the children might join Harry at engagements outside London later in the week had not been made as of Thursday.